Caribbean Issues is a weekly collection from Day by day Kos. Hope you’ll be a part of us right here each Saturday. In case you are unfamiliar with the area, take a look at Caribbean Issues: Attending to know the international locations of the Caribbean.
Local weather change and the surroundings are essential points to battle for, as a result of all of our lives depend upon it. Given the Trump cabal’s denialist stance on local weather change, this battle has by no means been extra vital. As United States residents, we have to cope with environmental points right here at residence—however we additionally should be cognizant and supportive of organizations, initiatives, and leaders in our neighboring Caribbean area. We should additionally pay attention to the truth that a few of these packages relied on funding from the U.S. and that these monies might have already been minimize off by the lunatics presently answerable for our nation.
Here’s a take a look at a number of the organizations and people who’re making a distinction.
Caribbean Marine Biodiversity Program
The Caribbean Marine Biodiversity Program is a five-year challenge, funded by the U.S. Company for Worldwide Growth and carried out by The Nature Conservancy, that goals to realize sustained biodiversity conservation, preserve and restore vital ecosystems and understand tangible enhancements in human and group wellbeing.
Working in 5 goal international locations—Dominican Republic, Grenada, Haiti, Jamaica and St. Vincent & the Grenadines—this program focuses on creating and successfully managing marine conserved areas and establishing and selling sustainable fisheries. By addressing direct and oblique threats to coastal and marine biodiversity, the Caribbean Marine Biodiversity Program works to make sure a sustainable future the place nature and folks can thrive.
Working with companions, we attempt to guard biodiversity and enhance group wellbeing throughout vital seascapes within the Caribbean.
The group’s three-minute video on the significance of biodiversity, produced three years in the past, must be shared extra extensively
The Nature Conservancy created this subsequent video. The outline notes:
The meals we eat, the air we breathe, our local weather—the whole lot that makes Earth inhabitable—all will depend on the interaction of billions of species world wide. That is biodiversity. And sadly, it’s quickly declining.But it surely’s not too late. We’re at a pivotal second once we can nonetheless reverse the lack of nature—for the sake of all life on Earth. Be taught extra at http://nature.org/naturenow
5 months in the past, the group documented its work defending sea turtles:
Right here’s a better take a look at the work of The Nature Conservancy within the Carribean:
TNC’s work within the Caribbean started within the Virgin Islands and, for over 40 years now, we’ve been restoring coral reefs, defending seashores and safeguarding wildlife like sea turtles on this paradise of islands and sea
Coral Reef Alliance — Western Caribbean
The Mesoamerican Reef throughout the Western Caribbean is the most important barrier reef within the Western Hemisphere and residential to a number of the final wholesome populations of staghorn and elkhorn corals. Its picturesque seashores and dive websites entice guests from world wide. But it surely faces vital threats, together with local weather change, land-based air pollution, and unsustainable fishing.
Listed below are a number of the people who’re main the cost, beginning with Veta Wade.
Fish ‘N Fins Inc. is a black woman-owned non-profit dedicated to constructing a extra equitable blue economic system by means of marine conservation. We collaborate with nonprofit, personal, and authorities purchasers globally to design and implement conservation initatives and ocean-climate options. Our community-led strategy entails offering immersive discipline faculty alternatives, co-designing inexpensive know-how for knowledge assortment, knowledge visualization and extra. We prioritize creating culturally related comunication merchandise by means of our story lab, specificially tailor-made for small-scale fishing communities, yatch lovers and cruisers.
Wade is the founding father of Fish ‘N Fins Inc., a marine conservation program Montserrat that teaches youngsters to swim, snorkel, and dive whereas creating educated, passionate ocean stewards.The Fish ’N Fins Sensible(er) Tourism strategy for ocean and coastal restoration and safety seeks to embed science, studying, and exploration applied sciences throughout the tourism business to advance a extra equitable and resilient Caribbean blue economic system. Wade will take you on her journey to speed up progress on the United Nation’s Sustainable Growth Objective #14 and beat entrenched social and financial inequalities to behave urgently for our ocean this decade.
Subsequent is Dr. Ayana Elizabeth Johnson
Johnson gave a brief and essential TED speak in 2019 on how and why she bought began as a marine activist. It was titled “A coral reef love story”:
The TED video notes:
Over the course of tons of of scuba dives, marine biologist Ayana Elizabeth Johnson fell in love — with a fish. On this ode to parrotfish, she shares 5 explanation why these creatures are merely wonderful (from their potential to poop white sand to make colourful “wardrobe changes”) and exhibits what’s at stake — for us and them — as local weather change threatens the way forward for coral reefs.
FYI: You possibly can observe her on Bluesky.
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Welcome to Season 2 of What If We Get It Proper? You’re gonna dig this convo w/ @carritwigg.bsky.social about how cultural change precedes coverage change — from local weather on TV, to algorithm hygiene, to consumerism. (Pay attention/observe/overview wherever you get your pods!) podcasts.apple.com/ca/podcast/h…
— Ayana Elizabeth Johnson (@ayanaeliza.bsky.social) April 7, 2025 at 11:53 AM
St. Maarten native Tadzio Bervoets was appointed as chairman of the Intergovernmental Oceonographic Fee’s Ocean Decade Job Power for Latin America and the Caribbean in 2024.
The IOC, with its 150 Member States, spearheads world cooperation in marine science, ocean companies, and capability constructing to help sustainable ocean administration. In Latin America and the Caribbean, the IOC operates by means of its regional subsidiary, IOCARIBE, fostering worldwide collaboration and coordinating essential analysis and growth initiatives within the Tropical Americas and the Caribbean.
Bervoets brings a wealth of expertise and dedication to his new function. As Chair, he’ll information the Job Power in its mission to harness ocean science for the sustainable growth of the area, reinforcing the importance of marine analysis and the applying of scientific data in policy-making and administration practices.
Kristin Baird Rattini wrote “Conservationist Tadzio Bervoets Is a Force of Nature” for Yachting journal:
Tadzio Bervoets was born and raised on St. Maarten, the place nature was his playground. From his first swimming and snorkeling classes at age 7, Bervoets was entranced by coral reefs, fish and particularly sharks. However as he grew up, grew to become knowledgeable diver and observed detrimental modifications alongside the reef, “the ocean became something more than recreation,” he says. “It became my passion.”
Now one of many main conservationists within the Caribbean, Bervoets’ ardour is his life’s work. He’s the managing director of the St. Maarten Nature Basis, which spearheaded the creation of the Man of Battle Shoal Marine Park, St. Maarten’s first protected marine space. He’s additionally director of the Dutch Caribbean Nature Alliance, the place he coordinates regional and worldwide efforts to guard the Caribbean’s fragile ecosystems. The DCNA drove the institution of the Yarari Marine Mammal and Shark Sanctuary round Saba and Bonaire.
In 2020, Bervoets co-founded the Caribbean Shark Coalition to extend and streamline the gathering of information on sharks by organizations all through the islands.
Bervoets tells his story on this 2021 video, when he was nonetheless the director of the Dutch Caribbean Nature Alliance:
Beneath The Waves produced a video about Bervoets:
Tadzio Bervoets is the director of the Dutch Caribbean Nature Alliance and a Scientific & Marine Coverage Advisor for our crew at Beneath the Waves.This week, he leads a collaborative crew of researchers hoping to seek out and tag pregnant tiger sharks on the Saba Banks, to additional perceive the significance and worth of the Yarari Sanctuary, a marine protected space. By studying extra about how these giant apex predators use these ecosystems, we search to higher defend them within the Dutch Caribbean’s Yarari Marine Mammal and Shark Sanctuary and past
In case you missed these tales, you can too discover our archive:
Caribbean Issues: With Earth Day on the best way, let’s speak coral reefs and local weather change
Caribbean Issues: What’s ‘accountable’ tourism, and why is it essential?
Caribbean Issues: Contained in the efforts to guard the sperm whales of Dominica
Caribbean Issues: Sargassum seaweed continues to unfold
Caribbean Issues: It is World Turtle Day. Caribbean individuals are preventing to guard them
Caribbean Issues: In Puerto Rico, mangroves are the primary line of hurricane protection
Please publish info on any teams that you’re supporting or working with within the feedback part under.
